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Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Christmas morning 2013 was brought to you by Hasbro- specifically, My Little Ponies. Katy's current obsession with MLP started last Christmas when Uncle Rob and Aunt Julie gifted her with her first My LIttle Pony, Princess Cadence.... and the rest, as they say, is history! Since then, we've amassed quite the equestrian collection of Twilight, Rarity and the gang. Now, if only I could find MLP fabric....

I digress, though. Back to Christmas morning 2013...

I woke up around 6:30 AM, got showered and dressed, went downstairs, made myself some coffee, sliced up some lemon bread, turned on the Christmas tree lights, the fireplace and some holiday music, took some pictures and checked my email- all before Katy woke up about an hour later. Then, when she finally woke up, all she wanted to do was snuggle, so I was okay with that. After stalling long enough, though, Katy went in to wake Nanny and Poppy Jones.

Then the real fun began! We all went downstairs and Katy- being the only child present- was followed by a paparazzi of flashes while she opened gift after gift for the next couple of hours. Her bike from Santa was out in plain sight and it was the first thing she saw. Her wide-mouthed, excited reaction was priceless and I believe it's safe to assume that she liked her bike with baby seat (want) and helmet (need) from the jolly man in red.

Katy was the recipient of many wonderful gifts that she enjoyed. A remote control dog from Aunt Megan and Uncle Jason, a baby doll with accessories from Gaga Jones, MLP purse, activity book from Uncle Rob and Aunt Julie, a herd of ponies and many other gifts from Nanny and Poppy Jones and a Highlights magazine subscription, MLP book and game from Grandma and Pop-Pop Tinkey. (Katy received as set of dolls/clothes from Aunt Hope and Uncle Eric and Crayons/coloring set from Uncle Josh and Aunt Delinda, earlier in the season).

After we finished opening presents, Ted cooked up a festive brunch of Christmas-shaped pancakes (a reindeer for Katy, a stocking for Nanny and Santa for Poppy). After brunch, Lil' Miss had to taker her new bike out for a spin- never mind that it was 33 degrees outside!! She didn't seem to mind the chilly temps at all and I have a feeling she'll be riding the bike like a pro, before long!

In keeping with the laid-back vibe of the day, we decided to go out and see the movie, Frozen, this afternoon. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that I enjoyed the movie almost as much as Katy did. Lil' Miss had a good ol' time eating popcorn and M&Ms throughout the movie (no judging, please- it's Christmas, afterall! ;-).

We returned home from the movie late afternoon. Katy played a little more with her new toys while the adults made phone calls to relatives. After everybody had spoken to everybody, we ordered Chinese take-out for dinner (no cooking, minimal clean-up- Merry Christmas to me :-). We watched White Christmas while eating dinner. That girl LOVES White Christmas (or, as she calls it, "Bob and Judy," or, "Bob and Betty.")!!

Katy was tuckered out by the day's events and didn't put up much of a fight going to bed. The adults ended the evening on a fun note while playing a rousing couple of rounds of Balderdash- love that game!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

It's Christmas Eve day and it's a stay-in-your-jammies kind of day. Little Missy was running around and some of the buttons on her top came undone. She stopped, looked down and said, "Oh no! My buttons came un-butt!"

Monday, December 23, 2013

Here's a sneak peak at our Christmas decorations, this year. Since we're in a different house (from last year), it was a blank canvas, so to speak. Of course, it was fun to decorate and after having our fall decorations up since September, our house is going to feel a little bare, come January, when we take everything down. Until then, though, we'll enjoy the festive environment!

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Last night was one of those rare occasions where both sets of parents were visiting (Ted's parents are in town for the Christmas and my parents were driving through town on their way to Pittsburgh to visit with my sister and her family). It also happened to be the last night of the Billy Graham Library, Christmas at the Library celebration for 2013. So, we decided to combine families and tradition and go to the Library and have Christmas dinner (a little early).

After last year's long wait to just get into the parking lot, we made sure to leave extra early in order to be there in time for our 6PM dinner reservation. As luck would have it, we ended up getting to the Library in record time and pulled in shortly behind my parents (who drove in straight from FL- what luck is that?!).

After we parked, we took in the Living Nativity, the singing and the Library decorations. Then, we took the shuttle back to the dining hall and enjoyed our meal. Even though Lil' Miss was a bit wound up, she managed to pack away some ham and mashed potatoes (and one measly carrot)! Katy was slightly disappointed to find not one chocolate offering on the dessert menu (We tried to tell her that the red velvet cupcake was just a chocolate cupcake dressed up for Christmas, but she wasn't buying it! She later told me that she didn't like the "Christmas chocolate."). Nonetheless, the rest of the adults found the meal- and desserts- delicious!

Thursday, December 12, 2013

After a year and a half hiatus, Lil' Miss finally decided that she was "open" to the idea of getting her picture taken with Santa. She wasn't exactly convinced enough to sit in his lap, but as you can see, she stood with him and actually smiled for a picture. (Of course, I totally bribed her with dressing up in a "fancy" dress and "lipstick," in order to get the picture... ;-)

We waited in a short line to see him and as soon as we were in the front of the line (Santa was still finishing up with the kids in front of us), Katy yelled out, "BIKE! with a helmet!" HA! Poor Santa didn't even get a chance to ask her what she wanted for Christmas- she just blurted it out from afar.

The jury is still out as to Santa's validity, but, hey, we'll take what we can get.... :-)

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Our Katy is "famous"!! She was featured in the Parents Magazine (January 2014) Baby Bloopers section (The funny things kids say at the back of the magazine). Her comment, "Growing," was already published on All Things Katy! back in September 2013.So, cheers to your fifteen seconds of fame (and the things you say that keep us on our toes!), Lil' Miss!!

Monday, December 9, 2013

Today's bento box is a little bit of everything. Last week, we were still working on Thanksgiving leftovers and we were getting a little bored with turkey, turkey, turkey. So, I decided to do prosciutto and cheese for Lil' Miss' lunch. Needless to say, my carnivore daughter loved it (not so much on the veggies, though).

"...Have a happy holidayEveryone's dancing merrilyIn a new old fashioned way..."

It's the first full weekend in December and that only means one thing in the Jones household... Christmas Tree time! We met up with our friends, the Keys family, at our usual Christmas tree farm, Shady Rest. The weather was chilly, but not snowy, this year. We took our time finding the "perfect tree." Lil' Miss had her own opinions on what she was looking for in a tree! Bigger! Taller! Fatter!

After we found THE tree, drank some hot chocolate and the girls enjoyed a lollipop, we went to Brushy Mountain Smokehouse and Creamery for lunch. Katy and Cecilia had lots of fun together! Lunch was delicious and the company merry.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

In early November, we took our annual trip to Portrait Innovations in Huntersville to get our annual Jones family Christmas pictures taken. Katy woke up in a good mood, excited to be getting all dressed up. I bought her a cute, new bow for the occasion (gotta have a cute, new bow!) and I curled her hair. We got to the studio with plenty of time to spare. We were greeted by a gentleman named David, who introduced himself as our photographer for the day.

And that's when it all went south....

Before we had even gotten there, Katy informed us that she wouldn't smile if our photographer was a guy. She has this thing about men she doesn't know (and even some that she does know and/or are related to- sorry, Uncle Doug!). So, when David, our photographer asked her to sit/stand/smile, Katy was an unwilling participant. There was some pouting... There was a near meltdown... There was bribing... Let's just say that poor David has to really work for his commission!

In the end, the results were *surprisingly* smiley and happy. I was happy with what poses we did get (even though we didn't get a chance to use some of the personal props that I had brought along for the occasion).

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words but in this case, this picture is all about what ISN'T being said and all the drama that went into producing those happy, smiling faces.... ;-)

What do you get when eight adults, five children ages five and under, one house and one RV, lots of food and mayhem gather together for one whirlwind holiday weekend? Why, you get a Tinkey/Jones/Coyle Thanksgiving, that's what you get!

Everybody arrived at our house on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Thankfully, the Coyles were able to beat out the winter storm that was supposed to dump inches of snow in the PA/WV area. After some holiday traffic, the Tinkeys made it safely to our house, as well.

Thanksgiving dinner was a feast! For appetizers, we had deli spirals, brie bites and a crudite platter. Our dinner included Turkey, stuffing (the good kind!), sweet potato casserole, hashbrown casserole, butternut squash soup, Caesar salad, ravioli, meatballs, antipasta, cranberry sauce and sweet potato biscuits (with butter that the girls shook up). Oh, and we topped off our decedent feast with pumpkin pie, chocolate chip pecan pie and cherry pie! Needless to say, by the end of the day we were stuffed!

Thanksgiving night, our house observed a first- there was football on our TV! The Pittsburgh Steelers were playing the Baltimore Ravens and our family of die-hard Steelers fans had to watch.

On Friday, we took all the kiddos to Romp n Roll to jump out some energy. I believe it's safe to say that all of the kids had fun! We mostly had the place to ourselves for open gym and the girls lasted the longest for a good couple of hours. Since the weather was nice, we walked there and back (gotta work off that turkey dinner, somehow! ;-).

Friday evening, we all drove through the Speedway Christmas lights. Katy and Kayla rode the ponies and Molly did the big bouncy slide. After some holiday cheer- in the form of funnel cakes and hot chocolate- Kayla, Katy and Molly spent the night with Grandma and Pop-Pop in their RV. Apparently, according to the grandparents, the girls were little angels and slept through the night (!!!). Regardless of the reports (true or false, you decide), the girls had fun eating popcorn, decorating a gingerbread house and reading stories. The parents, on the other hand, enjoyed a nice, quiet night of sleep.... :-)